


Cosmic Cube and the Power of the Heart

by laireshi



Category: Avengers (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: AI Tony, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Fix-It of Sorts, Hydra Steve Rogers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-14 07:53:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11778696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laireshi/pseuds/laireshi
Summary: Steve makes Tony's birthday wish come true.Neither of them expects the outcome.





	Cosmic Cube and the Power of the Heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shaliara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shaliara/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Cap IM Tiny RB Round 6: Commander](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11713596) by [Shaliara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shaliara/pseuds/Shaliara). 



> Written for Shaliara's stunning art. Seriously, everyone, go look at it. Thanks for looking through it to foldingcranes!
> 
> I really wasn't sure how to tag this; more explanation in notes at the end.
> 
> Some spoilers for recent comics below.
> 
> Timeline info: so as of Captain America 25 and Secret Empire 008, we know that the shards of the Cosmic Cube also have some power (less than the full Cube, of course). Also, in a [really heartbreaking panel](http://janekburza.tumblr.com/post/163982651894), Tony wished he could be a real boy again. It didn't work out. And it was on his birthday. 
> 
> Also a fill for my stony bingo card: image prompt with Captain America and Iron Man lying down, away from each other after a fight.

“Come with me,” Steve says, and Tony follows, without arguing, without even hesitation.

He tries to stop as soon as he realises that, but he can’t: he has to keep moving, go after Steve.

Steve turns back to him and smiles calmly. “Something wrong?” he asks as if he’s honestly worried.

Steve hasn’t been honest about anything for _months_ , and Tony never noticed.

“What are you doing to me?” Tony asks. He _doesn’t_ want to go after Steve, he wants to—he wants to save him, but he doesn’t know how. He knows he’s not ready to try and kill Steve _again_. 

One could think it’d get easier, after he already crossed that line and failed . . . But the thing is that he took the news that Steve, even this caricature of Steve, survived with some relief. Tony _doesn’t_ want to kill Steve, in any form. He just wants _his Steve_ back.

Steve raises his hand in an explanation. His fist is closed, but there’s bright blue light coming from between Steve’s fingers. “You’re not the only one who noticed the shards could be useful.”

“They have limits,” Tony says. “You can make me follow you, sure, and then what? Do you want me to work for you? I don’t think so.”

“I thought you had more faith in me,” Steve says, and Tony grits his teeth. He had faith in the _real_ Steve, not this monster.

Steve leads Tony to another room, and Tony stops dead just inside. He’s not sure if it’s just the Cosmic Cube shard, or if it’s some incredibly advanced projection—but he’s an AI, he should be able to see through the latter. 

“Oh, it’s real. I thought it was fitting,” Steve drawls.

 _Fitting_. The ruins of Avengers Tower, _fitting_. Tony’s dizzy, walking inside, but he can’t not follow Steve. They’re in one of the upper rooms, would be his guess, because he can look out of the shattered windows and see the sky. Half of the walls are broken, rebar sticking out of some. It shouldn’t be structurally sound, but the floor is steady.

Tony wonders if that’s what the Tower looks like, now, in the dark dimension covering New York. 

“I wanted to take you home,” Steve explains. “Might make some things easier, don’t you agree?”

“I’ve no idea what sick game you’re playing this time,” Tony says, and his voice is shaking with barely suppressed anger, “but I _know_ you’re not my Steve. I’m never going to stand with you. Whatever you do to me—whatever you show me—”

“See, Tony, this is where you’re wrong,” Steve says. He opens his hand briefly. Tony only manages to see that he has more than one shard with him. 

_Fuck_.

The first question, _why is he wasting their power on Tony_ , is quite easily answered, really; Tony’s an artificial intelligence and he’s since hacked the security of the pod his body is in. He’s heard Steve’s _confession_. He should’ve done that earlier, when it would’ve mattered, not only after Steve told the whole world that he is now Hydra Supreme, but he can’t change that. The point is, Tony _knows_.

If Steve, the real Steve, if he loved Tony . . . Tony could see why this Steve hates him. Weakness, right. 

But then why is Tony still alive? Steve’s had so many occasions to kill him . . .

“It was your birthday not that far ago, wasn’t it?” Steve asks. “I’d offer you a glass of champagne, but you literally can’t drink it, can you?”

He steps to Tony, almost too close, and twists his lips in an almost nice expression. But this is Hydra Leader Supreme, not Steve. Tony can’t forget that.

“So, I’ll make your wish come true,” Steve continues. “Home is where the heart is, so here we are, and _you want to be a real boy_.”

Steve’s hand shines brighter, and Tony doesn’t understand for a long second. Then the pain hits him, nervous connections creating when moments earlier there was _nothing_ , and a body, he has a body again, he—

He screams, because it hurts, viscerally, he’s not used to it anymore—the sensation disappears as soon as it occurred, and he’s swaying on his feet, very physical feet. 

He tried to do it, and he couldn’t. Why did Steve . . . 

Steve steps next to him, close enough Tony can feel his body warmth, feel his breath on Tony’s cheek as Steve whispers, “I have _ideas_ , to celebrate.”

Tony shivers, because he’s pretty sure what Steve’s implying here, but he can’t quite do anything else; still trying to get used to having a body. 

Steve kisses him, full on the lips, and for a moment Tony lets himself believe in the illusion that it is Steve, that real Steve would kiss him like that and touch him . . . but he wouldn’t. This finally lets Tony push Steve away.

Steve laughs. 

“We’ll get there,” he promises.

“What, with your Cosmic Cube?” Tony snarls. He takes a step forward, and he’s more steady now. “He loved me, so you want me for yourself? Is that it? _Never_.”

Steve looks at him closely, something dark and threatening in his eyes. Tony’s Steve never looked quite like that; not even when they fought.

 _It’s not Steve_ , Tony tells himself over and over. _And he can’t be saved_. 

“You’re his weakness,” Steve says.

“We were both each other’s strength,” Tony corrects him, more sure in his new body every second. “I’m starting to think I might be _your_ weakness.”

“Losing him broke you. Both back when you killed him in your civil war, and now,” Steve taunts.

Tony inhales sharply, because it still hurts, but he can’t let himself be defeated here; Steve has given him a body, for whatever reason, and hasn’t taken it back. Can he do it still? Or is his Cube fragment gone . . . 

_Armour systems online_ , he sees inside his mind, and fights to keep a calm face. It’s not quite like Extremis; more immediate, the way he interacted with tech as an artificial intelligence. But his body, his body is real, not just an LMD. 

But this means he has a weapon. 

If he surprises Steve here . . . Could he grab the rest of his shards, make a complete Cube and finally _save Steve_?

He steels himself, fires the repulsor at Steve. 

Steve’s face transforms, he immediately switches into combat position, deflects the shots with his shield. Tony swears, tries to aim at him again, but Steve hurls half of the shield at him, and Tony’s not ready for how heavy it hits. 

He’s in an old armour model, and he hasn’t had combat practice in his body in almost a year. 

He staggers backward, and then Steve’s on him, and hits him with the other part of the shield, pushes him back—

Tony yells as something pierces him in two places at once, white hot pain dimming everything else for a moment.

He thinks he must’ve blacked out for a second, because then he realises he’s impaled on the pieces of rebar, one going through his shoulder and the other piercing him from his lower back to his stomach, and everything feels a bit warm and sticky with blood. 

He should’ve played, he thinks dimly, he should’ve kissed Steve back no matter how everything inside him recoiled at the thought of it, instead of trying to fight him inside a space generated by a fragment of a Cosmic Cube . . .

Steve’s next to him, without his shield. He looks anguished and surprised.

Tony’s no longer sure which Steve it is. A hallucination, probably; Steve, Hydra Supreme, wouldn’t be _shocked_. 

He raises Tony’s hand to his cheek, slowly. 

_Definitely a hallucination_ , Tony thinks. His thoughts are slowing. He thinks he’s dying. He’s failed twice at saving Steve.

“I’m sorry,” Tony whispers, and adds, because if a real Steve can hear him . . . “I forgive you.”

Something changes in Steve’s face. He touches Tony’s other hand with his free hand, and Tony can feel the touch of the Cosmic Cube between their fingers, but can’t focus on it, everything’s going dark around him. Steve’s face grows softer as it disappears, more like the real Steve’s, full of warmth and love for Tony . . . Tony’s glad he can see it in his last moments.

There’s a flash of blue everywhere around them; like a world reshaping itself.

Tony opens his eyes, and finds Steve looking back at him.

**Author's Note:**

> Note on the "chose not to warn" tag: there's one non-con kiss and an ambiguous character death. (They might be okay. Who knows? Certainly not me.)
> 
> I don't want to discuss current canon here; I like writing dark otp things and that's what I do. My opinions on storylines and characters are different things and not necessarily reflected by my topic of choice. Also, opinions expressed by the characters are not the author's opinions.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Like a World Reshaping Itself](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13187523) by [SilverStark](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverStark/pseuds/SilverStark)




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